Flesh And Blood: House of Comarre: Book Two (House of Comarre 2) Read Online Free PDF

again. Something else to be dealt with in time. Not now, but soon. She reached for one ofMaris’s journals and carried it downstairs to read until dinner was ready.
    This journal dealt with the time leading up to Maris’s decision to claim libertas, the comarré ritual in which a comarré might fight her patron for her freedom. If the comarré lost, the patron was granted a new comarré. If the comarré won, she went free. Either way, the loser ended up dead.
    Maris had won, but the ritual had left her crippled, unable to walk until years of secret rehabilitation enabled her to regain some mobility. It had also freed her from her patron and allowed her and Dominic, her vampire lover, to leave the noble realm and live a somewhat normal life. At least until Maris had left Dominic. Why she’d done that, Chrysabelle had yet to uncover.
    Maris had been exceptional at keeping secrets. Even Dominic hadn’t known that she’d regained her ability to walk over the years. In the end, that secret had made it possible for her to kill Chrysabelle’s patron and escape without detection, all in an effort to free Chrysabelle so she might live a life beyond the servitude of the comarré world, something Chrysabelle had long wanted.
    Maris had gotten her wish. But at what price? Even Dominic had paid highly. His noble family, the house of St. Germain, had declared him anathema for loving the comarré of one of his peers and causing that comarré to claim libertas, during which her patron had been killed. The council had blamed him for the patron’s death. And although killing another vampire was an unforgivable sin, he had escaped with his life because he had only been the cause and hadn’t actually dealt the killing blow. Not that Dominic was suffering now.
    His nightclub, Seven, seemed to be doing very well. The man wore expensive suits, had his own plane. Once a week, he laida blanket of white roses on Maris’s grave. And he might indulge in some things that were not exactly above board, but Chrysabelle couldn’t help but feel some affection for the man who still obviously loved her mother.
    She returned to the journal but had read only a few pages when the intercom chimed twice, indicating the guard at the main gates was calling.
    Velimai came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. She threw it over her shoulder and signed,
Are you expecting someone?
    ‘No, but that’s okay. I’ll get it.’ Chrysabelle got up to answer the intercom. ‘Yes?’
    ‘Ms. Lapointe, there is a visitor here, but they’re not on your list. Should I let them in?’
    ‘Who is it?’
    After a brief pause, the guard responded. ‘He says he works for Mr. Scarnato and has a message from him.’
    She chewed her bottom lip. If someone meant her harm, why would they bother stopping at the guard shack? Why not find another way in? Although using Dominic’s name was a pretty good ruse. ‘He’s alone?’
    ‘Yes, ma’am.’
    ‘Let him through.’
    ‘Very good, ma’am.’
    She checked the closed-circuit monitor that showed the gates into the property. Those gates had to be opened manually, which would give her time to react if whoever was in that vehicle was up to something. Instinctively, she felt for her wrist blades, but she wasn’t in the habit of rearming herself once she’d gotten ready for bed. Perhaps that would have to change. She turned. ‘Velimai, could you get my—’
    Velimai stood behind her, Chrysabelle’s sacre in her upraised hands.
    ‘Sword.’ Smiling, Chrysabelle took the weapon, careful not to touch the wysper’s sandpaper skin. ‘Thanks.’
    Should I get Maris’s sacre as well?
she signed.
    ‘No. I plan on keeping her rule of no vampires in the house, so whoever this is won’t be coming in.’ She slipped her arm through the red leather strap on the sheath and hung the sacre over her shoulder. ‘Assuming it’s a vamp.’
    Good,
Velimai signed.
I’ll be in the kitchen. Call if you need me.
    ‘Will